Saxon Coal Road

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The Oelsnitz / Erzgebirge mining museum and the museum's friends' association developed the idea of a Saxon coal route .

Intension

The aim is to bring the history of the Saxon coal mining to life. In addition to the coal mining itself, the actors would also like to keep in mind the importance of the “bread of industry”, the changes in the landscape and all facets of industrial culture associated with coal mining. The elaboration of the geological conditions, the history of each individual mining area and, last but not least, the importance of hard coal and all related professions is a matter of concern for those involved.

aims

Initially, development is planned as a virtual route. This is to be underpinned by a network of various cultural and tourist partners and a joint announcement of the branch of industry that is so important for the industrial development of Saxony.

The mining museum, together with its friends' association, has established an advisory board to which Berglaute, members of the traditional association, regional historians and other interested parties belong.

A separate website is planned, on which, in addition to the route itself, elaborations on the history of the various extraction areas, the conveyor technology, the use and sale (including railway lines) of the hard coal will be presented. A Saxon hard coal biography and bibliography are also being considered. Quite a few Saxon personalities have made an outstanding contribution to hard coal, for example Richard Hartmann , without whom the Saxon hard coal mining could not live and who in turn could not operate without the Saxon hard coal.

The Saxon State Minister for Economics, Labor and Transport, Martin Dulig , has taken on the patronage of the project.

The route

Industrial architecture, mining routes and educational trails and other traditional points that have survived to this day are to be connected over the approximately 240 km long route - initially abstractly. In the former Lugau-Oelsnitz district alone there are over forty such points. Almost all of them are already integrated into a coal path , a mining educational path, a mining circular path and a dump adventure path.

Initially, the route between Zwickau and Oelsnitz / Erzgebirge is to be developed and later on via Chemnitz, Flöha, Oederan, Hainichen, Freiberg ( Bergakademie ), Olbernhau, Brandov and Freital to Dresden. The idea for the “Saxon Coal Road” has a historically proven basis: there were already coal roads in Saxony through which the black diamonds were brought from the coalfields, mainly to the economic centers of Chemnitz, Zwickau and Dresden. Two longer routes can be proven beyond doubt: First, “The Coal Road” as a connection between the Zwickau district and the later Lugau-Oelsnitzer district with Chemnitz. The second, actual section of a historical “coal road” by name is located in the Döhlen basin between Hänichen and Dresden.

The individual Saxon coal mining areas

Erzgebirge basin

Zwickau coal field

Lugau-Oelsnitzer coal field

Eastern basin wing as far as Chemnitz

The Chemnitz urban area lies in the middle of the Vorerzgebirgs depression and meets the Borna-Hainichen depression in the northeast , the western part of which, the Borna-Ebersdorf depression , lies in the Chemnitz urban area. The Flöha sub-basin adjoins the south-east and the Oelsnitz sub-basin in the south-west. From a geological point of view, the search for hard coal in Chemnitz could not have gone well, but small seams, chippings and islands emerged on various occasions, so that efforts were repeatedly made to investigate or even mine them. However, this only promised success in the extreme northeast, in today's Ebersdorf district. In the 19th century, the Borna-Ebersdorf sub-basin was initially positive in the north of Chemnitz, but the opposite turned out to be the case. Boreholes and shafts are known from today's districts of Borna , Glösa , Draisdorf (Seidelmannhöhle), Hilbersdorf , Gablenz , Grüna , Reichenbrand , Rottluff , Rabenstein , Schönau , Altchemnitz , Adelsberg (Niederhermsdorf), Harthau , Markerdorf and Mittelbach . Today the Schachtweg in Grüna and the street “An der Halde” at the former location of the Richard-Hartmann-Schacht in Reichenbrand are a reminder of former activities in Chemnitz.

Area around Borna-Ebersdorf

While in Chemnitz / Borna the search for hard coal was discontinued after a few test drillings, in Chemnitz / Ebersdorf , where the productive levels emerged, hard coal was actually mined for a long time. In Chemnitz-Ebersdorf there has been evidence of an economic coal mining since the 16th century under the Lichtenwalder von Harras . The promotion was apparently only stopped in 1864.

Area around Berthelsdorf-Hainichen

Flöha Basin

From 1700 hard coal was searched for and also mined in Altenhain and later also in the villages of Flöha, Gückelsberg and Plaue.

Döhlen basin

Basin from Olbernhau - Brandov

In the years after 1851 coal was searched for opposite house no. This attempt was unsuccessful. Further drilling was only carried out later, this time with success. Coal was found in the forest near the horse stream (Koňský potok). Shortly afterwards a company was founded, which was led by the directors of the iron works in Kallich (Kalek). 1853 began with the extraction of coal. The mine was named Gabriele in honor of Countess Marie Gabrielle von Buquoy, the owner of Rothenhaus Castle . After the countess's death, the company collapsed. In 1876 only 6 miners were working in the shaft. The property of Rothenhaus was bequeathed to the daughter Isabella, whose daughter Maria Gabriele married Prince Ludwig Karl Gustav von Hohenlohe-Langenburg. The prince fell on July 26th, 1866 in the battle of Königgrätz , his son Gottfried took over his property. In 1893 Johann Schlutius bought the mines. Under his leadership, the company developed again. Due to the new finds of anthracite deposits, the number grew from 15 miners to 92 in 1900. In June 1898 the mine was modernized and a railway was built. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of miners continued to grow and a colony of miners emerged near the village. The mine got a steam cap and another winding tower was lifted up. The shaft was now 600 meters long and 60 meters deep. That changed again when in 1906 the "Glückauf-Schacht" (Zdař Bůh) was opened at the upper end of the village. A large building with offices and apartments for the employees was built next to it. The "Glückauf-Schacht" was connected to Olbernhau in Saxony by a cable car . Most of the coal was brought over here and marketed under the name “Olbernhauer Anthracite Coal”. 172 miners were employed in 1910. After the outbreak of the First World War, the border with Saxony was closed. The telephone lines were also cut and the coal was now on the dump in Brandau. Only after lengthy negotiations could the coal be returned to Saxony. In 1921, work in the mines was interrupted due to the hyperinflation of the Deutsche Mark. The promotion became unprofitable. The financial situation worsened so much that Gabriele was to be auctioned. The government stopped the auction and "Gabriele" was closed and dismantled. In 1924 only 73 workers were still working here. During the Second World War, consideration was given to resuming mining. In 1942 this idea was finally rejected. The coal reserves were completely exhausted.

Schönfeld-Altenberg basin

Further sources

Individual evidence

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literature

Heino Neuber: Step by step on the Saxon Coal Road. The tower support. No. 33, 2014, ISSN 2193-2719
Gerd Mühlmann: The hard coal mining in and around Hainichen - another station on the way along the Saxon Coal Road and an episode in the history of the Saxon hard coal mining from the beginning of the 18th to the end of the 19th century. Part 1. The tower support. No. 37, 2016, ISSN 2193-2719
Gerd Mühlmann: The hard coal mining in and around Hainichen - another station on the way along the Saxon Coal Road and an episode in the history of the Saxon hard coal mining from the beginning of the 18th to the end of the 19th century. Part 2. The tower support. No. 38, 2017, ISSN 2193-2719

[1] Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2